


Trailing The Spider

by indecentlytheatrical



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Canon Queer Character of Color, F/F, F/M, Family, Love, Marvel Universe, Queer Character, Queer Themes, Queer Youth, Spider-Man Identity Reveal, Young, friends - Freeform, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23607817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indecentlytheatrical/pseuds/indecentlytheatrical
Summary: Sydney Carlisle and Ned Leeds embark on a journey to determine if their mutual friend, Peter Parker, is secretly a certain internet-famous, crime-fighting vigilante but soon find themselves entangled in a far bigger web of mystery and potential danger...
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Original Female Character, Peter Parker/Liz Allan
Kudos: 3





	Trailing The Spider

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, hope you guys like this--tried not to borrow too much dialogue from the movies, but couldn't resist slipping a few lines in here and there lol... This takes place a little after the events of Civil War and before Homecoming. Enjoy!
> 
> ~h

Sydney rolled out of bed for another day, standing drowsy and unsteady after a night of seemingly nonstop tossing and turning. What she had dreamt about—she could hardly remember, save for an old reoccurring figure she had continued to chase but to no avail. _Dad…_ She identified, sighing in tired resignation.

After throwing on whatever she decided was good enough to go under it, she retrieved her admittedly worn, but well-loved favorite black leather jacket and put it on. Tromping down the stairs, her black high-top boots clattering noisily against the aging wood, she was greeted with the familiar sounds of a typical Monday morning at her apartment. Her mom was rushing about in her deep purple scrubs in search of her keys, while her step-mother, Leshya, fed her baby-brother, Leo, in his high-chair, making various attempts at coaxing him into eating whatever mush was on the spoon. Sydney couldn’t help but feel comforted by the routineness of it all, going to greet her step-mom when a certain someone hiding under the foyer table caught her eye.

“Tina?” she started with a laugh, crouching to her younger sister’s level. “What’cha got there?” Sydney added, gesturing towards the set of keys in her tiny clutches.

“No! I’m not here, you can’t see me!” came the small girl’s squeal, covering her face with her hands. Stifling a snicker, Sydney, thinking on her feet decided her best chance of getting the keys with no fuss was to play along.

“Great Scott, you’re right!” she whisper-shouted enthusiastically. “You’re just floating clothes and keys,” Sydney added, making Tina giggle maniacally. Eyeing her mom’s frantic features once more, the urgency of her ploy increased. “Well, Tina—“ she began again.

“That’s Grand Sorceress, to you, peasant,” the young girl corrected with a good deal of attitude. _Damn, kids these days…_ She joked to herself.

“Right, my apologies, Grand Sorceress, is there anything I might offer you in exchange for mother’s keys?” Sydney requested, kneeling on one knee now, a humble, yet mildly joking tone of voice on.

“Mm, fifty-bucks,” said Tina decisively, flashing a devilish smile.

“ _Fifty bucks—_ god, can’t you just ask for candy or something?” countered the teen, feeling merely a fraction of the exasperation she could only guess her moms did daily. Sighing dramatically and crossing her arms in front of her chest, Tina appeared to begrudgingly relent.

“Fine—fifty pieces of _candy_ , but it better not be just some bag of random junk with only a few good ones mixed in. I’m talking Reece’s-good,” she jabbed a finger at her older sister, sounding far more akin to a seasoned hustler than a precocious five-year-old.

“Deal.” agreed Sydney, receiving her sister’s end of the bargain, following a rather serious hand-shake. Rounding the corner back into the kitchen, she announced her supposed, ‘discovery,’ the newly acquired keys dangling from her fingers.

“Ah—thank you, honey—have a good day at school everyone, bye!” remarked her mother with a quick kiss to her cheek, hurriedly booking it to the front door promptly after.

“So, you sleep well?” her step-mom asked, breaking the silence that materialized in the wake of her mother’s leave. Leo cooed quietly in his chair. 

“Yeah, yeah—as well as I usually do…” Sydney responded offhandedly, zoning out momentarily. “You?” she followed up, though she assumed the answer might very well align with her true experience.

“Alright, actually—this little stinker wasn’t quite so in need of either of us as usual—so that was great…” the older woman trailed off, thinking of what to say next. “Um, do you want any breakfast? I could make you some toast or something,” Leshya extended kindly, giving a weak smile to which Sydney returned back in full.

“Oh no, that’s okay—it’s a mile-day today, anyway so I probably shouldn’t eat anything before, you know…” she reasoned aloud, grimacing at the memory of a particularly horrible day of eighth grade where she coughed some haphazardly eaten eggs up and consequently missed the time she needed. Her relationship to the food had been somewhat rocky ever since…

“Aw, yeah—I understand. Hope that goes well! I remember hating having to do that in school,” her step-mother recalled with a chuckle.

“Thanks! And that’s valid, it really does suck, doesn’t it?” affirmed Sydney, loosening up a bit at their newfound common ground.

“Definitely. Oh god, that reminds me of this one time—“ Leshya went on to say, similarly relaxing a tad as well, only to be cut off by a rapping at the door.

“Oh, sorry—that’s probably Peter, see you when I get home!” she excused herself, hopping up from the table and skirting to the entrance.

“Pizza’s here!” chanted Tina, rushing to open the door for him, nearly knocking Sydney over in the process.

“Hey, Tina. Wow, you’ve gotten tall!” exclaimed Peter, looking down at the small girl clinging onto his leg affectionately.

“Yeah, and remarkably business savvy,” deadpanned Sydney getting a subtle glare from Tina and a confused look from her friend. “Long story—I’ll tell you on the way,” she said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand, leaning down to scoop her little sister up and set her down in the direction of Leshya.

“Well, see you around, Tina!” Peter bid her goodbye before Sydney shut the door on her pouty face shouting after her,

“I expect payment by the end of the week!”

Laughing to themselves, the duo headed down the hallway to the ascending metal staircase, Sydney explaining on the way there what had gone on. As they left the building and stepped out into the brisk morning atmosphere, Peter asked her,

“So… How was your summer? What did you do? I’m sorry we didn’t get to hang out as much we usually do—it’s just a lot’s changed since last year…” his sentence broke off at the mention, and Sydney knew exactly why. _Uncle Ben._

“Oh god, no—it’s totally okay, Peter. You don’t need to apologize, having time to yourself is important, especially after what happened. At least that guy can’t hurt anyone, anymore,” she reminded him in an attempt to comfort him. Peter never really liked to talk about what happened, not even to Ned. Sydney could understand why, though she still worried about him.

“Yeah, that is good… But uh—what’ve you been up to? Are you still in that band? Blue Velvet, right?” he changed the subject quickly, and obliging him, she did not press any further.

“Aw, sadly, no—when Lucy dropped out, Piper followed her and when Kayla and Vicky split up, it was bad—like, move-to-another-state-bad.” said Sydney, emphasizing the severity of it with a sharp cutting motion through the air.

“Damn, really? I’m sorry, Syd—you were always really good, you all were,” Peter complimented as they reached their bus stop. Sydney smiled.

“Thanks, that means a lot,” she retorted, carding a hand through her hair habitually. A thought, though potentially risky, then entered her mind. “So, you do anything fun this summer?” she questioned, right as their bus came to a stop in front of them. Suddenly, his shoulders tensed and his answer mixed together in a hasty string of words.

“Uh--no, not really—I mostly just played video games and whatever… Normal stuff, you know?” he presented, stepping onto the crowded vehicle, Sydney following suit—kicking herself internally on the way in. _Shit. Well that was a dumb question to ask. Of course, it wouldn’t be fun—his uncle was just murdered!_

“Yeah, I get it—sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” she fumbled, squeezing in next to him on a pole at the center of the bus. Peter looked rather alarmed at this, his eyes widening as a signature frantic bout of apologizing came on.

“Pry? Oh no—you’re fine, I mean—I’m fine! It’s fine,” he stammered, to the secret amusement of a few fellow passengers.

“Mkay, cool.” Sydney nodded, beginning to grow a little suspicious of this reaction. Sure, it seemed like regular, normal Parker-brand awkwardness, but something was off. What had he really been up to? she wondered. 

~

Following their brief bus exchange, the two friends walked the rest of the way to the front of the school, talking idly of what assignments they had both dreaded to complete over the break, teachers they were not looking forward to seeing and for Sydney, a few other students.

“Hey, Penis-Parker!” shouted one of these individuals at them as they sped by in their silver-convertible. Flash Thompson. Sydney scowled, while Peter frowned softly.

“Shove it up your ass, _Flasher_!” she yelled after him, much to her friend’s shock and minor chagrin. To Sydney’s disappointment, it seemed her comeback hadn’t carried far enough in time to reach its intended target.

“You didn’t have to do that, Syd.” said Peter gently, making her relent some. Sydney knew how he felt about retaliating against Flash’s antics, and to an extent, she understood why, but another part of her was just unable to stand by and watch him have to put up with it.

“I know, I’m sorry—he’s just _so_ annoying. I don’t know how you deal with him, Pete—god, especially as a teammate,” she relayed, in reference to his yearly stints on the Mathletes.

“Eh, he’s not so bad. I just think he has a problem with overcompensating, you know?” posited Peter, as generous and forgiving as ever. Sydney had always appreciated that about him. He’d been that way ever since she met him as a new kid in the 7th grade.

“Yeah, maybe… Still doesn’t give him the right to be a dick to you, though!” she reminded, not wanting him to go the way of ultimate self-sacrificing for Flash’s apparent inability to cope with his own insecurities in a healthy way. 

“I know, Syd,” he conceded, with a light laugh.

~

Weaving in and out of jumbles of fellow peers, either on their own separate journeys, or simply just standing there, talking amongst themselves, paying little to no mind to others trying to get around them, Peter and Sydney made it to their respective lockers. Hers was the one squarely across from his, on the opposing side of the hallway. Digging out her combination slip from the front pocket of her backpack, Sydney went to work inputting her new code, getting it open almost immediately, unlike the first day of freshman year.

“Join me, and together—we’ll build my new Lego Death Star,” she heard Ned say, alerting she and Peter to his presence. Chuckling softly to herself, she went to join them but halted in her tracks when she was confronted with another familiar voice.

“Something funny?” said a distinct monotone, earning a minute jump from Sydney as she came face to face with the girl she’d quietly admired from afar for the past year. Michelle Jones, or more commonly—MJ.

“Uh—no, not really. Was just thinking of a meme I saw earlier…” she sputtered, all faculties going out the window in her proximity.

“Hmm, well you’ll have to show me it sometime—I think I’ll lose it if my only source of entertainment is Mr. Crist’s Spanish pronunciations,” MJ quipped, her typical stoic face melting away into a genuine smile. Already fully-aware her cheeks were on fire—Sydney laughed as if they weren’t.

“Aw, yeah—I will. I just hope he doesn’t have any new socks to show us. I still get whiplash thinking of that whole, “octo-socks,” thing from last year…” she confessed, fairly impressed by how well things were going for it only being about their third conversation ever.

“Oh shit, yeah—that was when he put his foot on _your_ desk, right?” she queried, grimacing at the memory.

“Yeah, it was so nasty—especially since he was only wearing sandals over them,” Sydney clarified, looking similarly grossed out. Following a short pause, the girls erupted in laughter once more, gaining Ned and Peter’s attention right as the bell tolled from up above.

“Well, see you around.” MJ bid her goodbye, closing the locker directly next to Sydney’s and waving prior to walking off in the other direction. Instantly, Sydney felt her two friend’s gaze’s on her.

“What was that?” teased Peter, wearing a surprised, yet bright grin.

“Oh, can it, Parker!” she fired back, playfully indignant and simultaneously over the moon.

~

For the remainder of the day, MJ went mostly unseen to her, Sydney managing only a mere glimpse of her on her way to the front gate at the end of the day. Peter, weirdly enough, had disappeared from sight as well, the last contact they’d had with each other in Spanish class, their second to last period, leaving she and Ned to search for him together. She had, though not formally, been invited to help build his new Lego set along with their currently missing accomplice.

“You think he just bailed?” posed Ned, looking up her from the curb where he sat, visually and vocally defeated. Sydney sighed and took a seat beside him, saddened at how hurt he appeared to be.

“Nah, he wouldn’t—that’s not like him,” she asserted, hoping her belief still rang true.

“I dunno… You weren’t really around much this summer, Peter’s kinda changed since then,” relayed Ned, tone deflated and vague for such a bold statement.

“Well, he did just lose his uncle. He was like a father to him—I think that would shake just about anyone up, you know?” Sydney rationalized, a certain unspoken understanding between them in Ned’s look of sympathy.

“Yeah, I get that—but I don’t know, this seems sort of separate from that. For example, every time we hung out over the break—he would just completely vanish, and it was always when that Spider-Man guy from YouTube would show up, weirdly enough…” he elucidated, thinking out loud as his features contorted in confusion and rising certainty. Sydney looked at him, an eyebrow quirked in disorientation.

“What are you trying to say, Ned—that you think Peter’s Spider-Man?” the notion felt strange on her tongue, but the oddness didn’t stop there.

“What?” said Peter, bewildered beyond recognition at their topic of discussion. Sydney quickly got to her feet, not exactly panicked, but cognizant of the fortuitousness of the situation. Ned on the other hand…

“Nothing! Sydney was just making a joke—you know how funny she is,” he lied, mimicking Peter’s earlier performance almost to a tee.

“Oh, okay… You guys ready to go? Sorry for being late, Mr. Stan wanted me to make copies for Back to School Night,” he expressed, calming Sydney’s skepticism for the most part, although notably, she could tell—not Ned’s.

“Yep, let’s go!” he still cheered, throwing Sydney a glance over his shoulder as he guided Peter along.

~

As Ned and Sydney left Peter’s apartment later that day, she stopped him on his way to the stairs, determined to get to the bottom of whatever he thought was going on.

“Hey wait—what was all the before? When you were saying you thought Peter had changed?” she said, not mincing words. Ned’s gaze went to the floor, staying there temporarily preceding his act of composed and serious eye contact with her. She couldn’t help but feel a tad perturbed at this, the look did not suit him.

“Well, you sorta already said it yourself but—“ he said, automatically making Sydney regret asking in the first place.

“Ned, I am so sorry—but no. I will sooner believe Peter is on—crack—than he is somehow Spider-Man,” she admitted, shaking her head at even the prospect of it.

“Okay, okay—I know how it sounds but please just give me a chance, alright?” Ned defended, passion in his intonation. Sydney took a moment to think it over, then a question she believed was rather glaringly obvious sprung to the forefront.

“Alright fine, let’s say he is living some secret double-life—why not just ask him point-blank if he is? He can’t lie his way out of it, he’s terrible at lying,” she brought forth.

“Agreed—but without any strong evidence, he could easily just deny it and then probably never talk to either of us again,” he argued, taking it to a level Sydney wouldn’t have expected from him.

“Well, I don’t know about that last part, but I guess that makes some sense…” she ceded, knowing full-well what he was most likely going to say next. She pondered the outcome of agreeing to help him spy on Peter. _This couldn’t lead to anything actually substantial, right? It’ll probably just turn into a stupid joke by day three. And I guess if he is really doing shit, he shouldn’t, maybe we’ll find out before it gets bad?_

“So, are you in?” he asked. _Bingo…_

“God, I dunno, Ned. This sounds like all kinds of messy…” Sydney divulged, unable to face her friend and his undoubtedly compelling puppy dog eyes. “But, I guess if he’s really in danger or anything—outside of being a literal spandex vigilante dude, we’ll find out, right?” she syllogized to the instantaneous reaction from Ned.

“Exactly! That’s my main reason for wanting to do it! Because even though being friends with Spider-Man would be _really_ cool, it’s not worth losing Peter over...” he reaffirmed, sincerity in his speech. Sydney smiled faintly at the sentiment. “So… We got a deal, then?” said Ned, putting out his hand to shake. She hesitated for a second, contemplating one last time what she was getting herself into. Then, throwing her head back minutely and exhaling incredulously at the matter at present, she let it all go, taking his hand in hers and declaring with a short laugh,

“I guess so.”


End file.
